Honored Military Alumni

Frank Lindsay
Class of 1943
Navy, 2 Years
A Remembrance of Frank Lindsay
In the 1940’s, when we were growing up on Wadsworth Street, in the
present AGO house, our home was next to the Alpha Delta sorority house.
The large brick structure was owned by the Miners with Mrs. Louse Miner
serving as “house mother.” As a child I remember being in the Miners’
living area, where I noticed a picture of a young man in sailor’s uniform.
Eventually I came to realize that this young Navy man was Frank Lindsay,
Mrs. Miner’s son. I still see her face as she sadly explained that her boy,
serving on a submarine in the Pacific Theater was listed as “missing in
action,” presumably in the depths of the ocean. As far as I knew she never
learned how, when, or where he was lost. In fact, I always had the feeling
that she, without definitive word, still harbored some faint hope that he
might be alive. My mother said that Mrs. Miner often repeated the words, “I
know that he will come back. I know that.” . . . The Miners subsequently
moved away from Wadsworth Street and we lost track of them.
Fast forward to 2013.
Recently my brother Norman happened to meet the president of the
Submariners Association and thought of Frank. This man guided him to a
website that detailed war records of those who served on submarines, and
we were able to learn of Frank’s naval service for our country.
Frank must have enlisted when he was still in high school since his
yearbook picture shows him in a naval “Dixie Cup” hat. He was assigned,
serving as Fireman First Class, to the USS Tullibee, a submarine that saw
action in the Pacific.
The ship was on its fourth war patrol and had departed Pearl Harbor on 5
March 1944. On the 26th of the month radar contact was found to be on a
large convoy including a troop and cargo ship plus freighters, a destroyer,
and escort vessels on the open sea north of the Pelew Islands. The
Tullibee made several surface runs on the transport, but being unable to
see due to squally weather, held fire. Approaching closer, the sub fired two
bow tubes. A minute or so later a terrific explosion shook the boat. 79 men
were lost. The transport was also sunk.The sole survivor, Clifford W. Kuykendall, was picked up the next day, taken
prisoner and was finally liberated following Japan’s surrender. Most of the
information about the final moments of the Tullibee and its men came from
this survivor. His assessment was that the sub was sunk by an erratic,
circular run of its own torpedo.
After the war, Mr. Kuykendall tried to write to all the families of his fellow
servicemen to give them the news of theirs sons’ last day. Some of the
letters were returned, and presumably Frank’s mother was among those
who never received one.
For each submarine lost in World War II, of which there were 52, a
memorial has been erected. The monument for the USS Tullibee is
located in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. (Every state has one memorial, with
New York and California each having two.) The monuments tell the story of
the particular submarine, including its last run, and a list of the crew.
Frank’s yearbook inscription states: “‘Superman’ goes up, but Frank can go
down. Guess how? He has a diving helmet.” . . . Norman recalls seeing
Frank’s diving gear that he used in Conesus Lake in the Miner’s barn--a
helmet and some sort of pump, a young man’s fascination and dream; he
made the supreme sacrifice--“on eternal patrol.”
Elizabeth Neureiter-Seely
July 2013
Ref.: www.history.navy.mil/library/online/sublosses/sublosses_tullibee.htm

Jerry Hotchkiss
Class of 1983
Air Force, 20+ Years
I served from Nov 1983 - Dec 2007. I was a medic for the first 14 years where I flew as a Aeromedical Evacuation Technician. I then trained to be an Occupational Therapy Assistant. I was stationed at Scott AFB, Il twice, Clark AB, Republic of the Philippines, and Keesler AFB, MS

LTC (R) Sean Robert Eaton
Class of 1979
Army, 20+ Years
Over 32 years of Service both Enlisted, Non Commissioned Officer and Officer. Infantry, Military police, Ranger, Airborne and served on staffs up to Army and Joint Level.

William Westland
Class of 1954
Army, 2 Years
Stationed at Ft. Devans for 6 months and worked in the printing section. Transferred to Germany and worked at Army Publications and Training Aids Center as a Linotype Operator and Proofreader.

School News

Our Geneseo High School military alumni are some of the most outstanding people we know and this page recognizes them and everything they have done! Not everyone gets to come home for the holidays and we want our Geneseo High School Military to know that they are loved and appreciated. All of us in Geneseo are proud of our military alumni and want to thank them for risking their lives to protect our country!